Florida Court Changes Standard for Review of Appraiser Tax Suits

The Florida Department of Revenue must conduct a more rigorous review when determining if a property appraiser may sue a value adjustment board for consistently violating the law in its assessment rulings, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Since the statute allowing property appraisers to appeal adverse decisions of a value adjustment board was enacted in 1976, Florida courts have read in a requirement that the revenue department review appraiser assertions for “probable cause.” But “due to the plainly laid out process” in the statute, “there is no need for any judicial gloss on the text,” Judge Lance E. Neff ...